Toronto Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti speaks to the media on Aug. 12, 2014.MATTHEW SHERWOOD/The Globe and Mail
Toronto Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti has pleaded guilty to campaign overspending in his 2010 bid for re-election and has been fined $17,500.
The outspoken North York councillor appeared in a Toronto courtroom on Friday morning and entered the plea along with an agreed statement of facts that was read in court.
Under the terms presented to the court, the councillor will pay $17,500, as well as a mandatory fine surcharge of 25 per cent, as required by the Municipal Elections Act, said Fredrick Schumann, one of the special prosecutors in the case.
"We agreed on the penalty that we would seek and that [Mr.] Mammoliti would accept," Mr. Schumann said.
At City Hall after his court appearance, Mr. Mammoliti said he is happy with the court decision.
"The courts have ruled, and the courts have ruled that it was inadvertent," he said. "The judge said I acted in good faith every step of the way."
Mr. Mammoliti refused to comment on why he broke the rules, instead referring reporters to the agreed statement of facts.
He said he agreed to plead guilty so he could move on from the incident, and to take responsibility for the breach.
"I did by pleading guilty, and I did by agreeing to pay a penalty. That's how I've owned up to my responsibility."
A compliance audit of Mr. Mammoliti's 2010 campaign expenses found he exceeded the spending limit of $27,464.65 by more than 40 per cent, or $12,000.
Among the expenses not properly reported, according to Friday's statement of facts, were "Team Mammoliti" campaign jackets that cost $3,390 but were never recorded as an expense. The campaign spent more than $4,710 on brochures, but reported only $2,000 for the expense. The statement also said the campaign used a Suncor credit card, but no log was kept of the expenses.
"The prosecutor agrees that the evidence suggests that Mr. Mammoliti's offences were inadvertent, in the sense that he did not intend to contravene the [Municipal Elections Act]," the statement concludes.
This is not Mr. Mammoliti's only legal battle.
On Thursday, City Council voted to reject his request that taxpayers cover more than $48,000 in legal bills he has accumulated fighting conflict-of-interest charges.
Under city policy, councillors are automatically eligible to be reimbursed for their legal fees in Code of Conduct cases to a limit of $20,000, and Mr. Mammoliti has already submitted invoices totalling $14,831.25, which have been paid.
Council voted 32-6 on Thursday to reimburse Mr. Mammoliti up to the $20,000 limit and no more.
The councillor was docked three months' pay earlier this year by his fellow councillors – the highest fine ever levied – after a scathing report from Toronto's integrity commissioner found that a $500-a-plate event held in 2013 in his honour broke city rules.
He is continuing to fight that finding in the courts.